Through My Eyes: Will Tommy Burns Be Fired?

Through My Eyes: Will Tommy Burns Be Fired?: Will Tommy Burns Be Fired? Vice Chairman Gary A. House Harnett County Board of Commissioners I have received numerous communi...

Will Tommy Burns Be Fired?

Will Tommy Burns Be Fired?

Vice Chairman Gary A. House

Harnett County Board of Commissioners

I have received numerous communications over NC House Bill 1108 that passed through the NC House of Representatives yesterday.

I knew nothing of this bill nor did most of my colleagues in Harnett County.

Based on my interpretation of the Bill, it is a clear attempt to handcuff the current Harnett County Board of Commissioners and Harnett Board of Education in offering contracts or modifications to contracts to County Manager Tommy Burns and School Superintendent Tom Frye.

I cannot speak for the school system but since I am on the Harnett Board of Commissioners, I certainly can give my opinion of Burns,  his performance and this  Bill.

Burns currently is employed with a employment agreement.  He has no contract.  He has no severance package.  

Burns has done a fantastic job.  He does his best to treat all commissioners equally.  I have only heard glowing comments about him from employees and the public.  He has the credentials, education and experience to lead the county for numerous years.  He is local and has a vested interest in Harnett County.

He received a very favorable employee valuation about 6 months ago.

So why was House Bill 1108 introduced to NC House of Representatives?  

Normally when a local bill is presented to the House, our State delegates will receive a resolution from the Harnett County Board of Commissioners supporting it.  The majority of our County Board knew nothing of this Bill and was never asked for a resolution nor was our opinion sought.

Why was this Bill introduced in Raleigh without the County knowing about it?  I can only speculate on the reasons.  I do know  the County Board would not have passed a resolution in support.

I do know that Commissioners Joe Miller and Beatrice Hill  and I support Burns.  

For a couple of years before Burns was hired, Commissioner Jim Burgin often talked about bringing Burns in as manager one day.  He said he had a strong financial background and would a great fit for Harnett County.

When it came down to a vote, it was Miller and Hill for Burns and Burgin and Commissioner Gordon Springle for another candidate.  I was the deciding vote.  After weighing the attributes of both, I chose Burns because he had the credentials, experience and education.  He was the best choice to lead Harnett County.

In public the vote for Burns was unanimous.

I have no idea why Burgin changed his desire to have Burns as manager.  

In my opinion, Burgin has treated Burns rather coldly since he came on board a year ago.  Burns has attempted to treat all commissioners with the same respect.

If there was a commissioner pushing for Representative David Lewis to amend House Bill 1108, I can only assume that it was Burgin.  I doubt it was Springle on his own.  I know it was not Miller, Hill, or me.

Common courtesy before a local bill is introduced is for our Representative to ask the commissioners.  A lack of respect was shown to our board.

I have observed that Lewis is not too fond of Burns for some reason that I do not understand.  Proof of this was, according to Burns, a profanity laced tirade by Lewis on Burns several months back.

With all of the issues in Raleigh like fracking, medicaid, teacher salaries, Health and Human Services cuts, etc., I have to wonder why Lewis was so concerned about House Bill 1108 when the county did not ask for it.

Was it a political favor for someone?

I do know that Lewis has often inserted himself into county affairs over the last year or so in a manner that I have not seen before.  He has been overly involved in issues with the planning department bypassing the County Board with his demands.

We need a Representative in Raleigh that works on our needs at the State level and that does not meddle in county affairs.  County affairs should be handled by the commissioners.  If he wants to insert himself into county business, why doesn't he increase the amount of money that the State gives to our schools?  School system funding in Harnett County is much more important than House Bill 1108.

House Bill 1108 allows Burns to be put out on the street without cause in December without a penny.  I have had a gut feeling that was the plan for several months now.  If House Bill 1108 is passed by the Senate, Burns will be gone in my opinion.

Another grave injustice will be delivered in Harnett County.

My Disenchantment with Local Republican Party

My Disenchantment with Local Republican Party

Vice Chairman Gary A. House

Harnett County Board of Commissioners

I have always have had strong Republican, conservative beliefs.  For about 10 years, I was a regular at most Republican Party functions.  

A little over two years ago, my dissatisfaction with the local Republican Party began.

Former NC State Representative Don Davis decided to run for NC Senate against Harnett County Chairman Tim McNeill.  Later, Daniel Glover jumped into this Republican primary.

NC House Representative David Lewis did not want  McNeill in Raleigh under any circumstances.  He also did not want Davis there either.   Glover was a political newcomer and I do not believe anyone thought he had the name recognition to win the seat.

When Davis decided not to seek re-election for State House over a decade ago, he helped  Lewis while running for the seat that Lewis still holds to this day.

Davis repeatedly asked Lewis for his support.  Lewis avoided him.

I was told that the legislators in Raleigh did not want Davis back up there.  Davis would not toe the party line and follow suit with the ones in power.

Davis asked me and Commissioner Jim Burgin for our support.  We both told Davis we would support him.

In an attempt to keep Davis out of Raleigh, Lewis began trying to find another candidate to run for the NC Senate seat.  I was told that Erwin Mayor Patsy Carson was contacted and declined.  Burgin told me himself he was contacted and he declined stating that he had more work to do in Harnett County.  A few days later I received a text message Lewis asking me if I were interested.  I also declined.

To the best of my recollection, about ten days later, Ronald Rabin announced his candidacy.

I have no idea how many people were asked to run in this NC Senate primary to keep McNeill and Davis out of Raleigh.  

Davis actually won the primary but did not receive enough votes to win it out-right and there was a run off between Rabin and Davis.

Rabin's campaign consultant was Lewis' campaign consultant and former college roommate.  A negative campaign was launched against Davis.  Much of the campaign was exaggerated, embellished and misleading.

Even though Burgin still claimed his allegiance to Davis, both Davis and I could sense he had shifted his support.

Burgin called me around this time and said that David Levinson, one of the developers of the Anderson Creek Club, wanted us to come to the Club to meet with him.  I told Burgin that I had some deadlines and they could come to my office for a meeting.  When they arrived, Levinson had his attorney Rebecca Davidson, Lewis and Burgin with him.  

Levinson started the meeting by saying unkind things about Davis.  Highly offended, I told them if they were there to bash Davis that they could all hit the door.  I told them than Don Davis was a fine Christian man who had been a friend of mine for 20 years and I was not going to sit there and listen to garbage.

Lewis jumped in and said that is not why they were there and immediately changed the subject.  The meeting lasted an hour.  I was so upset with how the meeting started, I cannot to this day tell you one thing that was discussed in that meeting after Lewis changed the subject.

Rabin went on to win the run-off.  I have since been around Rabin on several occasions.  I believe he is a good man.  I do not believe he knows some of the tactics used in his campaign on his behalf.

Later, when I was drug into two unmerited lawsuits.  I went to Lewis and discussed the suits with him.  He told me the Republican Party would not let me stand alone.  He hooked me up with an attorney that would set up a legal defense fund for me for $3000.  He claimed he would help me raise money for a defense.

I started doing some research and found that I could set up a legal defense fund for nothing through the State Board of Elections.

Lewis never helped me raise a penny.  The Republican Party never even called.  Yes, they left me out there to deal with these issues by myself.

Burgin and I used to talk 3-5 times a day.  Once I nominated him to chairman of the county board, things began to change.  They changed quickly.  I was warned by a few people that Burgin was not my friend.  I blew those opinions off as blasphemy.  I considered Burgin to be one of my best friends.

Many of the changes Burgin led me to believe would happen never did.  It was not until Burgin started pushing for the reduction or elimination of the $500 rec fees assessed to developers in the county that I began to realize that if I did not agree with Burgin, I would be thrown under the bus.  I have always worked for the best interests of Harnett County and not special interest groups.  Once I realized that Burgin worked for special interests and would do any thing to climb up the ladder politically, I started distancing myself from him.

When the next December rolled around, I voted to make Joe Miller, another Republican, chairman of the county board.  Burgin and I had always discussed the need to rotate the chairman.  After he occupied that seat, that opinion apparently changed.

I knew, without a doubt, that once I voted for Miller that Burgin and Lewis would work against me in my upcoming election.  I even knew they would use Lewis' political consultant to go after me like he did Davis.

I would not succumb to that pressure.  Burgin had to be replaced as chairman.  Miller was the best choice. Miller is a straight-forward, down-to-earth person who tells it like it is.  He does not work for special interests.  I voted for him because that was what was best for Harnett County.  I knew the consequences.

I was correct in my assessment of the consequences.  Burgin and Lewis did work against me in the recent primary and Lewis' political consultant did much of the work.  

During my re-election bid, I had a few conversations with the Harnett County Republican Party Chairwoman.  She told me that she was also disappointed in the tactics of the local party and when her term expired, she was going to distance herself and just work for specific candidates.

It appears that I am not the only one who has become disenchanted with the local Republican Party.  

Politically, I still share many of the Republican beliefs but I cannot support the win at all costs philosophy that has been brought into our county.

Harnett County's Disgrace

Harnett County’s Disgrace

Vice Chairman Gary A. House

Harnett County Board of Commissioners

            Tonight is the eve of the day I expect the judgment against Randy Rogers in the lawsuit County of Harnett vs Randy Rogers to be unveiled to the public.

            I have not read the order or judgment and do not know its content.  I do know it is not favorable to Rogers.  Rogers was not given a jury trial and the evidence he had was limited by the judge.

            I know without a doubt that Rogers has told the truth and has uncovered many things that should never have happened.

            Commissioner Beatrice Hill knows that many things have happened in public utilities that date back decades.  She has told me that she believes there is a lot of truth to Mr. Rogers’ allegations.

            Commissioner Jim Burgin knew of Mr. Rogers findings almost in real time.   Burgin also sought out former employee Ricky Temple in an apparent attempt to verify the claims of Rogers.  Burgin claimed that Temple was a very credible, no non-sense person and he solidified many of the allegations of Rogers.

            Burgin told me many times that we could not clean up public utilities until we made personnel changes.  Before he was elected as chairman of the Harnett County Board of Commissioners in December of 2012, he led me to believe that the changes that needed to be made would occur within a couple of months.  He also led me to believe that an investigation would be performed in the public utilities department.  (He told me when public utilities was investigated that he believed that improprieties would be found.)  None of these items ever happened.

            In my many conversations with Burgin, he seemed concerned about the county having to pay back millions of dollars if Rogers’ allegations were exposed.  I repeatedly told him that my sources told me if the County confessed its sins, self-reported, and cleaned up the mess that the County would likely not have any paybacks.

            After Burgin became chairman, whenever I asked him about the changes to be made, he would say the attorneys would not let the County make any changes while this lawsuit was pending.  He claimed the attorneys said that we would need certain employees to testify on the County’s behalf.  I repeatedly told Burgin that I did not want the County’s employees lying on behalf of the County.  Burgin always shifted the blame to the attorneys. 

            It is a disgrace that Harnett County has let this lawsuit go this far when three commissioners believe that there were wrongdoings in public utilities. 

            If Burgin no longer believes there was ever any wrongdoing, he never informed me of his change in stance.

            It is a disgrace when an employee uncovers wrongdoing, is terminated and is sued for being a whistle blower.

            Rogers could have been dropped from the suit if he were willing to sign a non-disclosure statement which he refused to do.  If nothing was wrong, why would he be asked to sign a non-disclosure statement?

            There will never be another whistle blower in Harnett County with the way Rogers has been treated.  I guess it will go back to business as usual.

Who Reviewed the Randy Rogers Alleged Stolen Documents?

Who Reviewed the Randy Rogers Alleged Stolen Documents?

Vice Chairman Gary A. House

Harnett County Board of Commissioners

            First of all Randy Rogers is no thief.  Randy Rogers is a whistle blower.  I know of no documents that he stole from Harnett County and I do not believe he stole any documents period.  Yes, he did copy public documents.  Many of the documents that he obtained came from the internet and from visits to other federal and state agencies, some of which I accompanied him.

            Some of the information that he obtained involved other elected officials.  So it was obvious that I could not bring it to the Harnett County Board of Commissioners.  I trusted Commissioner Jim Burgin and I went to him first.  Commissioner Burgin met with me and Mr. Rogers and looked at many of the copies of documents.  Commissioner Burgin was always kept in the loop and knew as soon as I knew of any information that was found to be out of line.

            The next place I went was to our attorney of the Board of Commissioners.  I was told that he worked for the majority of the board.  So I did not reveal any findings to him and went on my way.

            The next place I went was to the in-house attorney.  I was told that she worked for the county manager.  So I again did not reveal any findings to her and went on my way.

            I then had Mr. Rogers go to the in-house attorney and show her some of the information with which he had issues.  To the best of my recollection, he made two trips to see her with no concern being showed.

            I then had him visit the in-house county engineer.  The in-house engineer listened intently and told Mr. Rogers to sit there and said she was going to get County Manager Scott Sauer.  Mr. Rogers objected.  The engineer told him not to worry that Mr. Sauer would back them up.  According to Mr. Rogers, Mr. Sauer listened and realized there were issues and he would get to the bottom of it.  Nothing ever happened nor was it mentioned again.

            Once I realized that I was not going to get anywhere going through county channels, I began looking in other places. 

            I chose to contact State Representative David Lewis for guidance, who I considered the patriarch of the Harnett County Republican Party.  Representative Lewis invited me, Commissioner Burgin and Mr. Rogers over to his house to meet with an attorney friend of his.

            We sat around Representative Lewis’ dining room table for two hours listening to Mr. Rogers and looking at copies of documents that he brought with him.

Representative Lewis even called the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation and had two agents meet with Mr. Rogers and me.  It was quite obvious that the agents had no knowledge of public utilities.  It took me hundreds of hours to wrap myself around some of the complex issues.  After they left my office, I know they made a few inquiries to the county but I have no idea what they asked or what they were told. 

            I then turned to former State Auditor Les Merritt and former FBI agent Frank Perry of the NC Foundation for Public Ethics.  Mr. Rogers and I met with them several times.  Commissioner Burgin accompanied us on at least one occasion. 

           

Mr. Rogers and I were told point blank that we had the best documented case of public corruption that they had ever seen in North Carolina.

I began taking packets of information provided to me by Mr. Rogers to Mr. Sauer who always brought our in-house engineer into the room.  Mr. Rogers also provided the same information to Commissioner Burgin.  It was obvious that the information was over Mr. Sauer’s head but the in-house engineer understood.  I am quite sure of that.  Her mouth would often be hung open and she once said that this information made sense of the puzzle she had been trying to put together.

Upon Mr. Rogers termination from the county, Ricky Temple, a now former employer of Harnett County Public Utilities who revealed Mr. Rogers identity, realized that Mr. Rogers was correct in his assertions about public utilities and joined him in a whistleblower suit against the county.  Yes, the one who told that Mr. Rogers was the whistleblower later joined him.

In recap, the ones who reviewed the copies of documents that Randy Rogers, the whistleblower, provided were County Manager Scott Sauer, in-house engineer, in-house attorney, Commissioner Burgin, Ricky Temple, former State Auditor Less Merritt, former FBI agent Frank Perry, Representative David Lewis, the SBI, the agencies that Mr. Rogers mailed the information to and me.

With no reference book on how to be a whistle blower, Mr. Rogers went through all reasonable steps to bring attention to wrongdoing in Harnett County.

I know, without a doubt, that Mr. Rogers speaks the truth.

It is a shame with the way the county has crucified him that there will never be another whistle blower in Harnett County.

The Ever Changing Political Landscape of Harnett County

The Ever Changing Political Landscape of Harnett County

Gary A. House

With the primaries in Harnett County over this week, the landscape for our future in Harnett County is beginning to take shape.

I have a few predictions for November that I would like to throw out there.

Harnett County School Board District 3

Republican Howard Penny vs Democrat Doug Turner.

This one is a tough call.  Doug Turner is an attorney and a political newcomer.  I have known Doug for many years and he is fine gentleman and an excellent attorney who has children in the school system.  

Howard Penny has made a few unsuccessful runs for Harnett County Commissioner losing to Jim Burgin on two occasions.  From what I have been told, Burgin talked Penny into running for the school board.   Rumors are rampant that if Penny wins, he will run for County Commissioner in two years to fill the seat to be vacated by Jim Burgin.  

Apparently, Penny has the David Lewis Machine behind him.  Turner will no doubt have a strong political team behind him as well.  Although this district is strong Republican, Mr. Turner will have a strong showing in this race.   

NC Senate

Republican Ron Rabin vs Democrat Joe Langley

Ron Rabin is the incumbent.  Joe Langley is a highly energetic challenger who has made a few bids at political offices.  

Rabin is decorated veteran and businessman, who has earned respect in the community despite his close connection to the special interests of the Anderson Creek Club.  One key issue in this race is Rabin's stance on hydraulic fracturing in Lee County.  

Langley will likely make this fracking an issue in this election.

Langley has extensive experience in the medicaid/medicare field and will likely use his knowledge to challenge Rabin and the State of North Carolina in this area.

Rabin also has the David Lewis Machine behind him.  My prediction is Langley will tie Rabin and Lewis together as proponents of the special interests of the Anderson Creek Club.

My prediction is that Langley will give Rabin a run for his money but Rabin's camp will outspend Langley by 500% in an attempt to win this seat.

I believe that this will be Rabin's last time on the ballot.  It is obvious that Commissioner Jim Burgin is being groomed for this seat on the NC Senate in two years.

NC House

Republican David Lewis vs Democrat Susan Byerly

David Lewis is known to spend excessive amounts on his campaigns and has a well-oiled machine behind him.  Susan Byerly is a well-known retired educator/principal who no doubt knows what is lacking in North Carolina's educational system.

I predict this will be a close race like when Attorney Joe Tart challenged Lewis.   

Whose Toes Were Stepped On?

Whose Toes Were Stepped On?

Vice Chairman Gary A. House

Harnett County Board of Commissioners

I have always been honest with the people of Harnett County.  Many of you have inquired about the results of the recent Republican primary for seat 2 on the Harnett County Board of Commissioners.

Many things have happened over the last year where I stepped on some big toes because I was not willing to compromise my principles and sell my soul to those I know are not working in the best interest of Harnett County.

It all started with the selection of our county manager.  Some of us thought it was wise to bring in an interim manager from the outside to clean up the mess made by the previous administration.  Commissioner Jim Burgin had talked about hiring Tommy Burns as manager for over two years and I know he supported Mr. Burns.

When it came time to pick an interim manager, Joseph Jeffries, a current employee was selected.  I never even heard Mr. Jeffries name mentioned in that capacity.  Please do not take me wrong.  I have always liked Mr. Jefferies.  I think he is one of many great county employees.  I felt comfortable with him being a short-term interim county manager.  However, in hindsight, none of the problems that were to be corrected before a new county manager arrived were addressed.

After I realized that the clean-up that we wanted was not going to happen, I began to push to proceed with hiring a new county manager. 

We started the interview process.  Mr. Burns was selected for an interview.  Mr. Burns interviewed very well.  He had the more education and experience than the other candidates.  When it came time for a vote, the commissioners went around the room stating who they preferred.  I was last.  It was a two to two split.  I sat there with the deciding vote in my lap.  I cast my vote for Mr. Burns.

That started off an array of comments that were intended to keep Mr. Burns from becoming manager.   Commissioner Burgin stated that Mr. Jeffries had more county management experience than Mr. Burns because he had been interim county manager for three months and Mr. Burns had never been a county manager even for a minute.  Commissioner Gordon Springle even said that education was not that important.  These were some of the weakest arguments that I had could ever imagine.  They were not persuasive at all.  Mr. Burns has advanced degrees and had been a city manager for 15 years.  For anyone to think, he was not qualified is ludicrous.

I am incapable of understanding how someone could want Mr. Burns for a manager for the two preceding years then abruptly change his mind without any good explanation.

As time went on, NC House Representative David Lewis started putting pressure on Commissioner Burgin to change the way the $500 recreation fees were charged to the developers in the county.  I clearly remember on several occasions Commissioner Burgin telling me that if David Lewis wants the rec fees changed, he needs to do it in Raleigh and not ask the county board to do it.

Representative Lewis also telephoned and emailed the planning department on numerous occasions in an attempt to persuade them to change our ordinance.  From what I have been told, he even went as far as re-writing our ordinance for us.  In my eight years on the board, I have never known Representative Lewis to become so involved in any county issue.

The planning board approved language for our ordinance.  I have even had one planning board member tell me that Representative Lewis called him before their vote in an attempt to persuade him.

The planning board approved new language but it was not the language Representative Lewis wanted.

The planning board sent the new language up to the county board to approve at its next meeting.  The morning before the county board meeting, Commissioner Burgin calls me and asks me to come to a lunch meeting with him, Representative Lewis and David Levinson, one of the developers of the Anderson Creek Club.  It was probably a wise move that I elected not to go. 

At 4:00 that afternoon, Commissioner Burgin shows up at the planning department with even new language to be inserted into the planning board’s recommendation to the county board.  This is completely against protocol.  I actually saw the new language at 6:55 pm and was asked to vote on it at 7:10.  I tried my best to read the changes while listening to Commissioner Burgin and Commissioner Miller argue for ten minutes over the issue.  Frankly, the new language was not clear.  Commissioner Miller obviously had the stronger arguments that night.

After listening to the arguments and not wanting to make a rash decision, I made a motion to table the issue so that I could study the impact on the county. 

The next day I called Representative Lewis and asked if he would meet with me to explain the rec fee issue since he had been so heavily involved in it.  He jumped at the opportunity and appeared at my office two days later.  We met for 50 minutes and, quite frankly, he had no good argument that making changes in or eliminating the rec fees was in the county’s best interest.  As he was leaving he said that he wanted to come back and talk about capacity fees in our utilities plants.  He never came back to discuss that issue.

The rec fee issue stayed on the table until the 100 day time lapsed.

Recreation fees are assessed when a lot is recorded in Harnett County.  They are $500 per lot and are used to purchase land for recreational purposes in the area where the fees are collected.  According to information provided to me, Mr. Levinson’s argument is that since he provides recreational amenities inside a private club, that the rec fees should be waived or reduced.

The rec fees collected in the Anderson Creek area have always went to make the payments on West Park which opened for visitors last month.   I am certain Anderson Creek Club members will use this public park.  I cannot understand why Mr. Levinson does not appear to think that Anderson Creek Partners, LLC should pay its fair share for public recreational facilities.

Based on my calculations, the elimination of the rec fee would save Anderson Creek Partners, LLC $1.25 million.

It is also my understanding that Anderson Creek Partners, LLC wants to shift the capacity fees from the developer to the builder.  In my opinion, this would require the county to bankroll infrastructure improvements and would require the county’s utility department to use its reserves.  According to my calculations, this would be the equivalent of giving out a $4.75 million interest free loan.

Other information provided to me indicates that Anderson Creek Partners, LLC wants the county to spend $7 million to provide offsite infrastructure improvements in order for the development of its new phase of the club to have access to our water and sewer system.

Based on this information, the District 2 seat for County Commissioner is worth at least $13 million to someone.

Yeah, I know I stepped on some big toes.  But I would not sell the residents of Harnett County out.  The ones who replace Mrs. Hill and me may.  But I don’t play ball that way.